The U.S. Senate is safe from “Hardball” host Chris Matthews—at least for now. Matthews will stay put on the media-specific side of the political arena instead of making a bid for a Senate seat in his home state of Pennsylvania, as suggested by the recent scuttlebutt about him.

Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann apparently understood that she needed to do a little spin control following her jaw-dropping flirtation with McCarthyism on “Hardball” last week, but she apparently didn’t feel the need to apologize to anyone, judging by her latest campaign spot.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann was cakewalking to re-election in her Republican-leaning Minnesota district until she told Chris Matthews the media should investigate anti-Americanism in Congress. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee calls that a “$1 million mistake.”

The “Hardball” host is known for being outspoken, but apparently even he thinks he can go too far. Chris Matthews has apologized for suggesting that Hillary Clinton’s political success stemmed from having an unfaithful husband.

Chris Matthews got much more than he bargained for when he peddled his new book, “Life’s a Campaign,” on “The Daily Show.” In this clip, Jon Stewart savages the book, calling it both “a recipe for sadness” and a “self-hurt book” and making not-at-all-subtle references to Machiavelli and fascism. Fireworks ensue.

Ann Coulter fielded a call-in by Elizabeth Edwards on MSNBC’s “Hardball” Tuesday night as Coulter sat with host Chris Matthews in front of a gaggle of young voters to discuss the ‘08 campaign. Needless to say, Mrs. Edwards was none too thrilled with Coulter’s recent (and past) comments about her husband and family.

Unaware that his mike was on, Chris Matthews accidentally let the S-word slip during a live taping of MSNBC’s “Hardball.” Matthews was caught saying to producers, “We’re all reacting here, putting on s**t. We have nothing.”

Chris Matthews really stuck it to the hawks on Wednesday’s “Hardball”: “If you want America to be a hegemonic power in the Middle East, you’re out of step with the American people. We’re not going to fight it out with Iran for the next 30 years to see who the big s***—I’m sorry—the big name is on the block.”(h/t: Think Progress)

This one was so brutal it almost wasn’t fun to watch. Almost. NBC’s Chris Matthews and antiwar veteran Paul Hackett made mincemeat of Texas GOP congressional candidate Van Taylor, whom they repeatedly chastised for using meaningless talking points. Taylor was more out of his depth than George Bush at a Mensa convention.

Colin Powell’s controversial claim (made to Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer) that he never believed Iraq posed an imminent nuclear threat has renewed the debate about Powell’s culpability in the Iraq debacle. Check out Vanity Fair’s Chris Hitchens and Newsweek’s Evan Thomas discussing the issue on “Hardball” or read Jane Hamsher’s take at Firedoglake.

That’s what the “Hardball” host tells the disgraced representative in a not-meant-for-airing exchange surfaced by the Huffington Post. Also see the sexist comment DeLay made about Hillary Clinton. (video)